During that meeting, Jones asked Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey to tell the council about having been pulled over for speeding on Belle Isle. So, Jones said, had Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, and anecdata suggests that dozens more island visitors have been pulled over and ticketed or arrested for everything from speeding to open intoxicants to outstanding felony warrants. Winfrey told the council that the officer who pulled her over — she admitted to driving about 35 mph in a 25 mph zone — had followed her for a time before the traffic stop, told her he had already sent four people to jail that day and was working to keep the “riffraff” off the island.

Jones and a few other council members took exception. Jones said she planned to call the state personally to share her concerns.

If the officer actually used the term “riffraff,” there’s no question that was an unfortunate choice of words. And the unspoken part of this story is that if you’re pulled over for speeding, but end up in jail, it wasn’t because you were driving too fast. (Just read the state Department of Natural Resources’ biweekly law enforcement write-ups, containing long lists of folks stopped with open intoxicants and outstanding warrants, if you don’t believe me.) The island’s slow speed limit is set, I’m sure, because the island is frequented by pedestrians, cyclists and children, all of whom are vulnerable to speeding cars.

So let’s be absolutely clear: The idea that any elected official would publicly decry enforcement of laws is absurd. For Detroit-bashers, it’s seeming confirmation of the worst kinds of stereotypes about the city — the idea that the rules don’t apply, here, that Detroit is a lawless wilderness.

But get past the groan factor, and as much as it pains me to say it, Jones’ big-picture concerns aren’t completely unfounded.

For many Detroiters, state management of Belle Isle, which became a state park under a lease deal earlier this year, is a sore subject — driven largely by fears that state management would mean Detroiters would be barred from the island, denied or limited access and the us-versus-them mentality that characterizes any Detroit-Lansing interaction.

And for residents grown accustomed to a culture of casual policing, this brand of vigilant police work is a sea change. Too much, too soon? Maybe. The Michigan State Police report that since Feb. 1, state cops have made 329 traffic stops resulting in 293 verbal warnings, which seems like a good indicator that officers are easing into heightened enforcement. Chatter around town suggests that all kinds of people are getting pulled over on the island, regardless of race. Yet profiling is a real problem, and one of its tragic consequences is that the people profiled — overwhelmingly, people of color — learn to see a police presence as hostile, not comforting.

So it’s imperative that the park remain, as many said Tuesday, a welcoming place. The kind of place where all Detroiters feel comfortable. What does that mean for officers patrolling the island? Dropping terms like “riffraff” would be a good place to start.

But it’s just as important that Detroit’s hit-or-miss enforcement culture change. One of the problems in this city, one of the reasons residents deal with crime at levels unheard of in suburban communities, is that the people who commit crimes have a reasonable expectation that they won’t get caught. That’s got to stop. Speeding isn’t the city’s most serious problem, not by a long shot. But a culture of consistent police enforcement has to apply at every level. (And keep in mind that neither the state police nor the state Department of Natural Resources have broad jurisdiction over the whole city, so suggesting that this kind of vigilant enforcement could be better applied elsewhere just doesn’t wash).

Me, I don’t think that “welcoming” and “a place where you have to obey the law” are mutually exclusive. Just the opposite, in fact. And when Detroit is widely recognized as both, it’ll be a win. For everyone.